The Shelter Winter Assistance Program provides heat to thousands of homeless men, women, and children in numerous Massachusetts and Rhode Island homeless shelters every winter. The Citizens program enables shelters to pay a portion of their heating bills. This frees up limited shelter funds to support crucial services, including health care, education, and employment services, to society's most vulnerable citizens.

Citizens Energy has worked with other partners in the past to provide additional energy services to shelters. For example, Citizens Energy teamed with Citizens Bank, which financed $300,000 in energy efficiency upgrades at 59 shelters in Eastern Massachusetts. These upgrades, which included new windows, doors, lighting, and heating equipment, saved an estimated $1 million in energy bills at those shelters, enabling shelters to spend more of their funds on services